Do you ever get that feeling, “It’s either feast or famine”?  I distinctly had that feeling in November.  We decided to raise double the amount of meat chickens for November since it was our last process date of the year.  We chose the best roosters to leave with the laying hens; one for each pasture and the rest were processed for meat. 

The next morning we couldn’t find our big rooster with our oldest laying hens; he was taken by an owl that night.  Not long after our red rooster was gone from the adjacent pasture {we believe it was a hawk}.  We went from having too many roosters to not enough in 24hours.

Going from literally having our pick of the litter to being understaffed in the rooster department was a little disheartening.  Knowing our girls weren’t as safe without the protection of a rooster was too.

I think it’s easy to be frustrated in either circumstance; too much or too little.  Sort of like in single life when too many boys are calling it's confusing but when no one is calling it's depressing.   So I think it’s important to recognize when something goes abnormally well, with the right timing and design. 

A little while ago Robert found a flock of rogue roosters in our back yard.  Not terribly uncommon around here for someone’s pets to wonder over so he chased them back across the street and let it go.  A week later neighbors called asking if our roosters were in their yard.  Yep, same group except they were down to two now and a street over from where they began.  Apparently they were after the ladies; the next day one made it into the pasture with the red hens.  Robert threw the other in with the oldest girls.  No one had claimed them for weeks and they were becoming a nuisance to others, but for us, they were exactly what we needed.  So far they haven’t attacked any humans, protect their flock and seem rather tame.  I think they’re both beautiful and am thankful they’re not aggressive {I hate fighting roosters…just not really my thing}.

I feel in this world of feast or famine it's important to recognize when the Lord delivers exactly what we needed when we needed it; I am grateful for these new boys and they seem grateful for their new home in return.  

Don't you think they fit right in?

Now that we’ve all mastered the DIY laundry detergent let’s get some dishes done! My favorite part about the DIY Naturals recipe for dishwasher detergent is that it uses the same ingredients as the laundry detergent with only 2 extras.

Dishwasher Soap recipe
·       1 cup borax
·       1 cup washing soda
·       1/2 cup citric acid
·       1/2 cup kosher salt (for scrubbing action)

Use 1 Tbsp per load 

Each batch yields 24 ounces of detergent. 
You can find borax and washing soda in the laundry aisle of your grocery store. I ordered the citric acid on Amazon via the link provided. I substituted Sea Salt for kosher salt but that is the only deviation I made from the original recipe. 

For a DIY rinse agent, simply fill the compartment with white vinegar.

Confession; I didn't know a dishwasher had a rinse agent dispenser until very recently {so that's what that knobby thing is?}. Just unscrew, add 1 cup white vinegar and replace. If you can't believe I don't know what a rinse agent dispenser is you may be under a false notion.

An update from my original post; The citric acid causes the detergent to seize up a bit.  It wasn't bad the first week or so but got harder and harder as time passed.  When I first tried this it wasn't hard enough but waited just a couple more days and it worked like a charm.  I made my own little cubes of detergent using a silicone ice cube tray {$1 @ IKEA}.  Each cube is exactly 1 Tbsp of detergent, exactly what you need to run your dishes. I let the trays sit overnight and then popped them out in the morning.  Now I just open the container, grab a cube, pop it in and press start!

If you do make your own laundry detergent & dishwasher detergent and store in similar containers I suggest labeling them as such.  It’s hard to tell them apart once mixed unless you keep in distinct places in your home.  

Our dishes are clean, shiny and look great! And my mind is at ease knowing we are saving money and not introducing unnecessary chemicals into our home. Give it a try and let us know how it turns out for you!